Echoes of the Red Bull
by Shadsie
Summary: I wrote this a long time ago, and it's not changed, just moved to the new category for it was in Misc Novels. An after story centering on Lir.


Shadowcat's Notes: This fic is based a little more on the animated movie "The Last Unicorn" than on the book, though I HAVE read the book. (I've just seen the movie countless times and it is grilled into my brain a little more). I haven't seen any other fanfictions of "The Last Unicorn"; I would love to check them out, if there are any.   
  
Disclaimer: "The Last Unicorn" belongs to the brilliant mind of Peter S. Beagle, whose work this fic will not nearly equal the majesty of. I am making no money off this story, merely writing for fun and practice, so...please don't sue, okay? (You won't be able to get much out of poor lil' me, anyway).   
  
  
  
  
ECHOES OF THE RED BULL  
  
By Stacey N. "Shadowcat"  
  
  
  
He wandered the beach slowly, breathing in the misty stillness of the morning air. Absolute peace surrounded him and he felt permeated by it, the only sound to gently break the silence being the low grumbling of the sea. The young king watched the white foam lapping the sand, water playing with the lighter grains and splashing against rocks. Waves wear stone and carve the shore, only to dry away, leaving rock in wake of sea. Such was the way of things through the millennia, though the lives of men are brief and they only know by evidence and stories passed down through the ages what has happened upon the Earth.  
  
Lir mused walking back and forth along his beach before the ruins of the old castle, amidst the crumbled blocks and worn dressed stones. His "father" had died here, when the castle had fallen into the sea, and he, too, had died upon this beach. The young man wondered what she was doing now, the one he had loved.   
  
The land had grown green under Lir's kind rule, whereas it had been as hard and barren under Haggard. And it had rained, always raining or snowing, the skies always black with frigid clouds. Only the day after the shining creatures had been released from their captivity and Haggard had perished the sun dared to shine and warm the land. Lir surmised that the land itself, his kingdom, responded to the heart of its ruler, be it a heart of cold stone, or a heart of caring and light.   
  
Perhaps in the days of King Haggard, the land and the sky merely mourned the terrible injustice that he had wrought upon the world, the imprisonment of the unicorns. For as soon as they were freed, the land itself began to bloom, as if in celebration.   
  
The new castle was nearly completely built now, white and shining, unlike the gloomy fortress that Haggard had been content with. And, Lir had a people to rule, many more than his father did, for now people from other lands had been coming into his kingdom. Carnivals and festivals were traveling through here, and fishermen were gaining bounty from the sea.   
  
Even last month, Smendrick and Molly rode in for a visit, a respite in their travels. They were the first friends that Lir ever had, and he still considered them his best. Smendrick was still as clumsy as ever, but he was learning the ways of a true magician-though a true magician he always was, without ever knowing it. And Molly, dear, dear Molly, still with a sharp tongue and as wise as ever.  
  
Still, Lir's heart ached to see her once again, though he knew that if he beheld her once more, he would never want to let her out of his gaze.   
  
Lir thought that he might be falling in love again, with a young maiden. She had come to his kingdom from a far country. The girl had the same white hair and soulful eyes and was young and innocent. Her name, too, happened to be Amalthea.   
  
Amalthea said that she had once seen a unicorn, and wept at the sight. The poor beast was caged, and given an extra horn, it seemed, one that was unnatural and her heart ached to see the creature set free, rather than imprisoned for men to see in some carnival sideshow. Lir could not help but wonder if Amalthea had seen the other Amalthea that he once knew.   
  
This mortal maiden, though he cared for her, could not heal the wound in his heart left by his first love, his immortal love, which happened to be the last unicorn left in the world. Lir...was plagued by nightmares when he was a small boy, nightmares about his father's guardian, the Red Bull, a great beast made of fire, driving frightened unicorns into the sea. He learned, not long ago, that his dreams were no mere nightmares, that they were reality.   
  
Lady Amalthea had come with the clownish magician Smendrick and ex-thief Molly Grue, and he had given his heart to her. She ignored his advances at first, but slowly he had won her heart, only to find...that she was not human, but a unicorn, the last of her kind. For love's sake, he let her go, to become once again, her true form. The Bull attacked her and tried to drive her into the sea for his father's collection. He tried to save her, and was killed. The unicorn had stayed, and brought him back to life with the touch of her horn, only to leave him forever, her people now freed.  
  
Molly and Smendrick told him of the amazing events that had unfolded. According to them, when he had fallen, the unicorn lost her fear of the Bull and boldly drove the fiery beast into the sea to his death. The unicorns that lived in the sea for fear of the creature finally rose up out of the waves and thundered off back to their forests and mountains, to bring their magic back into the world and to do...whatever it is that unicorns do. Haggard's cold castle toppled, and he fell with it.   
  
The unicorn said to Lir that she would remember him, always. When she left, Smendrick told him that she would remember even "when men are fairy tales and books written by rabbits", that she was the only unicorn to ever know what love is, and regret.  
  
The images of the old times roamed through his mind, the echoes of the Red Bull, hunting down the unicorns and driving them to the sea, the image of the Red Bull, before it had run him down. He had died for the sake of love, and she had nearly done the same.   
  
The mortal maiden Amalthea silently walked up to Lir on the beach, and he wrapped his arm around her and held her close. His new love, a mortal woman, one he could have "until death they do part", never quite replacing the pain in his heart from having loved a unicorn.  
  
Somewhere through the fog of the morning air, at the edge of a grove of young trees, a pair of sapphire eyes watched the king and the maiden on the beach. One shrill whinny pierced the air, then she was gone.  
  
  
THE END  
  
Shadowcat, 2000   



End file.
